CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FINE ARTS LIBRARY THE MEMORIAL ART GALLERY ROCHESTER, NEW YORK EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY GEORGE HITCHCOCK IBiliWIIIIIBIIIilfaillllllltlillillllllHlni: JANUARY EIGHTH TO FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH NINETEEN HUpHTRED FIFTEEN THE MEMORIAL ART GALLERY IS OPEN EVERY DAY FROM .10, A.M. TO 4:30 P. M., EXCEPTING ON SUNDAYS AND" MONDAYS WHEN IT 13 OPEN FROM 1:30 TO 4:30 P. M. FREE VATS: WEDNESDAYS, SATURDAYS AND. SUNDAYS; OTHER DAYS, ADMISSION IS TWENTV-FIVE CBNTi. \TANY OF THESE PAINTINGS ARE FOR ^^^ SALE ; FOR PRICES APPLY AT THE DtSK OR AT THE OFFICE OF THE GAtLRRY. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 100 356 207 1 1 DATE DUE i GAYLORO PRINTED IN U.3A GEORGE HITCHCOCK GEORGE HITCHCOCK By CHRISTIAN BRINTON Author of "Modern Arlisls." etc. It should scarcely be necessary to recall, the out- ward facts of George Hitchcock's career. Ihe general public is persumably aware that he was born in 1850, at Providence, Rhode Island, and died in Holland, 1913. That he was famous as a college athlete at Brown University and Harvard, and sub- sequently practised law with desultory distinction are details which count for little in comparison with a life-long devotion to his profession in a single, quaint corner of the globe., In the annals of Americari art the name Hitchcock is inseparably associated with Holland. It wasr to the land of polders and dykes, of canals and tulip fields that the young man migrated as a , mere aspiring amateur, and it was there that he remained to win world- wide recognition. He actually could not paint outside of Holland. Dutch life and scene were ever the most congenial source of his inspiration and activity. Merely to characterize Mr. Hitchcock as a painter of sunlight, as has not infrequently been the case, is hardly adequate. In point of fact he was one of the pioneers of the modern outdoor move- ment. As far back as 1880 he began to confront nature with frank, unprejudiced eye and to scatter forth into the world canvases that vibrated with freshness and clarity of vision. Although his debut synchronized with the advent of Impressionism, George Hitchcock ovv^ed httle to the meticulous analysis of chromatic values which constitutes the particular achievement of Monet and his followers. It was rather through his admiration for Mesdag and the leading Dutch masters of water-colour that the American arrived at that fluent translucency of effect which remains his chief contribution to con- temporary painting. One of the earliest to turn his back upon the sterility of academic training and the murky tonality of gallery and museum, he went blithely into the open and became an eloquent exponent of sunshine, colour and atmosphere. Though virtually self-taught, George Hitchcock soon tasted the fruits of success. "La Culture des Tulipes," which was signaled for special praise at the Salon of 1887, proved but the prologue to a series of kindred subjects all celebrating the radiant vesture of Holland in springtime. He painted mainly at noon, when the sun was highest and brightest, and his work spontaneously became a song of praise to outward beauty. Landscape was usually :ombined on fairly even terms with the figure, and while in no specific sense an interpreter of character, he seldom failed to give costume and the picturesque accessories of native dress due prominence in each pictorial scheme. It was in the vicinity of Egmond, and latei* at Veere, in South Holland, that most of his work was done. He used to enjoy brief trips to London, Paris or the States, yet the coming of spring always found him back in Holland among his beloved tulip beds or sketching along the dunes with the wind drifting in from the sea. Following his initial triumph Mr. Hitchcock ex- hibited regularly in the principal Continental capitals as well as in his own country. He was Hon concours in Paris by 1887, and was subsequent- ly awarded medals in Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna and elsewhere. Few native-born artists have enjoyed an ampler measure of popularity or achieved greater distinction. He was a membef of the Munich Secession, and the only American member of the Vienna Academy, besides being an Officer of the Order of Franz Josef. Viewed in retrospect, the aesthetic legacy of George Hitchcock presents an appealing fusion of taste and sensibility. Local, yet cosmopolitan, its dominant note is one of refined lyricism. The rambling, spacious house at Egmond which was his home during so many fruitful years was called, after the Dutch fashion, Schuilenburg — "Shelter and Protection" — and there is in all he left behind a feehng of joyous serenity. His work will live because he succeeded in the difficult task of creat- ing beauty out of the simplest natural elements — sunshine, flowers, healthy forms, and happy faces. Catalogue of Paintings 1 Asters 9 Twilight 3 Double White Tulips 4 Sun-Flecked 5 November 6 Purple Hyacinths 7 Flower Field near Leiden 8 Pink Hyacinths 9 Spring Sunlight (Lent by Miss Anne Duane, New York) 10 Pink Tulips 11 Apple Blossoms 12 Children at Play, Marken 13 The White Mill 1-1 Aims-Houses, Leiden 15 Full Moon 16 Noordwyke 17 White Mill, Egmond-aan-Zee 18 The Artist's House, Holland 19 The Patchwork Quilt 20 Spring Moonlight 21 Red Roofs 22 Wet Road 23 Windmill in the Dunes 24 April Weather 25 In the Orchard 26 Marken Peasant Girl 27 Sunday in Zealand 28 Island of Marken (Unfinished painting) 29 Tea-Time, Marken 30 Milking Time 31 The Poppy Field 32 Hay Makers, Zeeland 33 Milkmaids, Early Morning 34 Flower Seller 35 The Windmill Land 36 Vespers 37 The Turf Stove, Zeeland 38 In the Dunes 39 Dunes near Laren 40 Scrub Oaks 41 Oranges, Riviera 42 Ste. Genevieve, Patron Saint of Paris 43 The Return of Persephone 44 The Flight into Egypt 45 Hagar and Ishmael 46 The Annunciation 47 The Burgomaster's Daughter 48 Tulips "George Hitchcock" 49 Eastertide I. T. SWINBURNE, Plli«T